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Commercial property falls 'might pave way for housing'
04 April 2008
Watching the commercial property market might give some clue as to where the British housing market is headed and if so, the results could be nasty, according to a Times commentator.
David Wighton argues that if this housing cycle follows the commercial property cycle, as it usually does, then housing could be in for a steep fall.
Recent research by the Investment Property Databank, showed that between June 2007 and now the average price of commercial property has fallen by 15 per cent.
Mr Wighton wrote that while the credit crunch had hit commercial and housing property at the same time, the impact on commercial property has been "swifter and steeper."
"Funding has dried up, just as it has for home mortgage borrowers, and there has been a wave of forced sellers as commercial property funds have had to sell buildings to meet a surge in investors' demands for their money back," he said.
Capital Economics economist, Ed Stansfield, said that demand for commercial property had been the lowest since 2003 and that uncertainty was causing businesses to slow down. 
